Impact of Water Conservation Programmes on Development Agricultural Cropping Patterns: A Case Study of Chikhalagaon village, Maharashtra. Authors: H. Dhawan, H. Kulkarni, V. Phadnis and U. Badrayani. 1 Abstract: This paper examines the agriculture development pattern in Chikhalgaon village of Kolwan valley located in Western Ghats of Maharashtra, post watershed and minor irrigation tanks development. It highlights the importance of scientific information for the commons by demonstrating how even a simple synthesis of irrigated cropping pattern in a village is quite complex. Understanding this complexity holds the key to microplanning of land, water and crop management in a village. The main focus was on distribution of irrigated cropping, and sources of irrigation in Chikhalgaon village, which facilitated in analyzing the trend of cropping pattern change post various water conservation measures adopted in the Kolwan valley. This study is mainly based upon the primary agricultural cropping data collected from farmers fields, government land records data served as secondary source while remote sensing data was used as a background check for verifying pre-1998 agriculture data. Synthesis of data was done using GIS software. The study was undertaken under the broader umbrella of an ongoing international research project called “Augmenting Groundwater Resources by Artificial Recharge” (AGRAR), focusing on the Kolwan valley site. Five Keywords : Watershed development, Groundwater, Artificial recharge, Agriculture, Irrigated Cropping Pattern. BACKGROUND: The pattern of land use of a country at any particular time is determined by the physical, economic, and institutional framework taken together. In other words the existing land use pattern in different regions in India has evolved as the result of the action and interaction of various factors, such as the physical characteristics of the land, the institutional framework, the structure of other resources available and the location of the region in relation to other aspects of economic development. The present pattern can therefore be considered to be in some sort of static harmony and adjustment with the other main characteristics of the economy of the region. In the dynamic context, keeping in view the natural endowments and the recent advances in technology, the overall interests of a country may dictate a certain modification of or a change in the existing land use pattern of a region. A close study of the present land use patterns and the trends during recent years will help to suggest the scope for planned shifts in such patterns. 1 H. Dhawan, H. Kulkarni, V. Phadnis and U. Badrayani. 1 Agriculture in India: Cropping activities go on all the year-round in India, provided water is available for crops. In any locality, the prevalent cropping systems are the cumulative results of past and present decisions by individual, communities or government and other agencies. These decisions are usually based on experience, tradition, expected profit, personal preferences and resources, social and political pressures and so on. The crops grown singly or as a mixed pattern are called as mixed cropping system whereas crops in a definite sequence are called rotational cropping system. The land may be occupied by one crop during one season, which is mono cropping, or by two crops, which is double cropping. Two or three crops may be grown in a year in sequence, mainly depending upon land, water and finances available. Of late, the trend is even towards more than two crops (multiple cropping) in a year. These intensive croppings may be done either in a sequence or even there may be relay-cropping – one crop undersown in a standing crop. The village revenue officials keep plot-wise record of crops grown in each season. These are annually compiled district-wise, state-wise, and on an all India basis. From these records one could calculate the relative abundance of a crop or a group of crops in a region. Most figures available as secondary data are at the scale of a taluka. Data at village level is available, but is often not coherent with taluka records. The dynamics of micro-level information on cropping has implications on factors like water availability, access, water use etc. Hence, it was thought relevant to study irrigated cropping in a village so as to understand the dynamics of variability in space and also to get some idea of temporal trends, if any. INTRODUCTION: Speedy development of agriculture is vital for the progress of our country. Land and water are the two basic resources of a nation. For securing maximum crop production, the best use of the available land and water has to be made and the latest methods of crop husbandry and technology, together put into practice. But this depends on the availability of scientific information and guidance on all aspects of agriculture in an easily digestible form. The current research theme “ Impact of Water Conservation Programmes on Development Agricultural Cropping Patterns: A Case Study of Chikhalagaon village, Maharashtra” highlights the importance of such scientific information be demonstrating how even a simple synthesis of irrigated cropping pattern in a village is quite complex. The present study aimed at analyzing the recent agriculture development pattern of Chikhalgaon, a typical village set in the western ghat region of Maharashtra. The study was undertaken under the broader umbrella of an ongoing international research project called “Augmenting Groundwater Resources by Artificial Recharge” (AGRAR). 2 The AGRAR project involves 3 research sites in India, of which one is the Kolwan valley where Chikhalgaon village is located. The study in Kolwan valley is being conducted by ACWADAM (Advanced Center for Water Resources Development And Management), a Pune-based research NGO working on groundwater management problems in India. The project was funded by DFID and guided by the British Geological Survey. Location of Are a: The Kolwan valley site in Mulshi taluka was selected primarily as it is largely representative of changing agriculture conditions within the western ghats as it represents various other typical dimensions common to many other regional as well as local settings, dominantly through watershed based interventions at the scale of a microwatershed or village. Kolwan valley is the common synonym for the Walki river basin. The largest village in the river basin is Kolwan, and hence, the name. The Walki River is not such a well-known river even in western Maharashtra. It is a tributary of the Mula river that flows into the Bhima river. The Mula and Bhima are well-known river systems in Maharashtra. The Walki is however, quite typical of many small-sized rivers in western India, with lengths of a few tens of km. and its basin spread is about 80 km 2. The Kolwan valley has a population of about 15000 ( GOMUKH, 2000 ). The present study has characterized the Kolwan valley in detail (Kulkarni et al 2003). In summary, the Kolwan valley consists of 16 villages and 48 hamlets with the length of around 15 km and the average width of about 5.5 km. Kolwan valley is bounded by longitudes 73°30’0”-73°37’37.5” and by l atitudes 18°32’05”-18°37’40”. The basin trends roughly North West – South East. The Walki River originates in the western ghats and flows in a southeasterly direction, ultimately joining the Mula River to the north-east of Karmoli village, just over 1 km north of Paud; the taluka headquarters (Figures 4 ). The highest point within the watershed is 1100m above mean sea level and the lowest point is 570m above mean sea level. The area defined by the Walki river basin is included within the Survey of India toposheet number 47 F/10. The main villages in Kolwan valley are shown on the map (Figure 4) , along with the main road that leads to Pune to the East South East and to Lonavala (towards Mumbai) to the North West. Topography and Drainage: The region is mainly hilly with expansive plateaux to the west and small plateaux to the north and south. The valleys itself is quite narrow and elongate, with steep ridge slopes that grade into a portion of terraces that, in turn, gently slope towards the main river channel. The slope of the land varies between 1 % and 50 %. Basaltic ridges on three sides surround the Walki River basin. The drainage pattern in the Kolwan valley is mostly dendritic to sub-dendritic. The rugged topography of the valley is apparent not only on a map but also actually when one travels to the area (Figures 5) . Many streams originate in the northern basaltic ridges and drain south into the Walki River. There are 3 relatively fewer streams originating along the southern slopes. Rapid and large quantities of surface runoff are experienced in all portions of the valley. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM: Agriculture remains the main occupation of people from Chikhalgaon even today. Having said that, it was apparent from satellite data (1986 onwards until recently) that irrigated agriculture has grown significantly since the last 5-6 years. This theory was also confirmed during discussions with various organizations as well as the local communities. Moreover, it was apparent also that irrigated cropping in Kolwan valley has a fairly complex degree of scientific, technical, social and economic dynamics behind changes in irrigated crops. It is with this background, that the study in Chikhalgaon was undertaken so as to understand the physical distribution of irrigated crops in a typical village like Chikhalgaon. This study was essentially more about a ‘process’ that attempted to use tools like remote sensing and GIS to understand field situations better. Hence, although the output from the study was limited to mapping irrigated crops in Chikhalgaon, a great deal of attention was paid to the process to this end.